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by corporalagumbo 4649 days ago
I'm not talking about UI in general, I'm talking about taste in UI - style and general good looks. I don't know how everyone else feels on this, but for me Apple has stuck far too long to simply ugly styling on both iOS and OS X to convince me that attractive UI is a part of company culture. Some of Google's efforts (Now, Maps) and where Microsoft is heading (e.g. it's new websites, Outlook, Windows 8.1) have all impressed me much more. I think Apple is clearly trying to retrofit company culture here.

But I wouldn't say Apple "reeks" of insecurity... We don't really have any knowledge about how much they have up their sleeves, and they've had a long time over the last half-decade to lay foundations for future maneuvers. Besides, if they can convince the everyman that they thought up modern design all by themselves, they could gain a massive advantage here.
2 comments
iMark 4649 days ago
Don't forget that the advancement of Jony Ive to oversee both software and hardware is still a relatively new development at Apple. All the design changes in iOS 7 have been done in little under a year, following the ousting of Scott Forstall.

Apple are definitely playing catch up on the software design front, but signs are that they're heading in the right direction. iOS 8 and OS X 10.10 will be interesting to watch, to see what the Apple's design team can manage with a little more breathing room in which to work.

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dferlemann 4649 days ago
I have always feel the old skeuomorphism UI is a pretty good design. It's quite unique and doesn't give me "color panic attack" because it has depth perception... I like Flat UI that are simple and clean, like few of Microsoft design these days. That's why I don't think iOS 7 gets it.

I think Apple is trying to capture low-end market using iPhone 5c (well... China), yet the production is not efficient enough to make it significantly cheaper. It's also a failure because Apple consumers are not that price sensitive. In addition to gold version of iPhone 5s (for the vain), and flat UI I upgraded last night, if their only innovation is finger print scanner, I'm not impressed at all at Apple this year.

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